County Events 2

County Events of Yesteryear Continued......

Olean continued...

This was picture taken on 11 Sept. 1909 at the first Olean Street Fair. The street fair in Olean was a festive occasion, drawing many visitors to the town. The group standing in the foreground of the crowd: L to R - F.W. Inglish; Rea H. Allee, holding hand of son, Dick; John W. Miller, in charge of the horse show; and, an unidentified man from the Russellville area who was said to be the judge of the horse show. The gentleman holding the reins of horse was James W. McFarland.

This picture was taken in the early part of the 20th century (possibly late teens-early 1920's). The gentlemen were lined up in their cars on the street of Olean with a purpose. Their mission was to make a trip to the Tuscumbia Courthouse to lobby for improvement of roads in the area. The following men were named on the back of the photo: Jim McFarland, JesseG. May, John McGinnis, Jake Helfrich, Gilbert Leslie, Jess Dyer and Boyd Miller.

Spring Garden...

This picture was taken around the turn of the 20th century at the home of Brumley Harrison (Buck) Crane, where family and friends had gathered on this particular day for a photograph. This was located near the small hamlet of Spring Garden, which was one of the first settlements to spring up in present day Miller County, being established not long after William Miller entered the first tract of land (before Miller County was formed) in 1826.

St. Elizabeth...

This picture was taken on 25 July 1916 at the Charlestown picnic. Until 1961, St. Elizabeth was known as Charlestown and, while the name changed, many residents still refer to the small settlement as Charlestown even unto the 21st century. Charlestown was established in 1880 not long after Old St. Elizabeth (located on the Osage River) moved inland to the area.

Tuscumbia....

This picture was taken in the early 1900's at the old, historic Brockman Hotel in Tuscumbia. I'm not sure what was taking place this day, but many had gathered for the occasion. The hotel was first called Central Hotel (prior to 1879), then later named the Home Hotel (late 1800's) before the familiar landmark became known as Brockman Hotel (1913). Sadly, this historic building was razed many years ago.

The Tuscumbia Centennial of 1937. Many floats traveled through the small town that day. The ladies on the float to the left were wearing banners advertising the local businesses. It was said that Charlie "Bird" Parker, the famous Kansas City jazz saxophonist, was a part of the band which was in the Musser's Resort float (on the right), who incidently won first prize that day.

The Osage River was once a busy waterway near Tuscumbia, founded in 1837, and once had a steamer which was built exclusively for carrying the mail from Jefferson City to Tuscumbia. This boat was built in 1881 by Phil Chappel, then State Treasurer, and others of Jefferson City, as a corporation. The steamboat was christened the "Tuscumbia". In 1882, the Bagnell Branch of the Missouri Pacific was built and the steamer mail was soon discontinued.

Another famous steamboat was called the "J. R. Wells", named for the president of the Anchor Roller Mills (in Tuscumbia) in 1898. This steamboat did an extensive and profitable business hauling such items as, wheat, lumber, livestock and other products.

During the boat season local crews were employed to bring merchandise from Osage City (in Cole County) and Hoecker. Capt. John W. Adcock was the pilot of the J. R. Wells and later operated by Capt. P. F. Hauenstein. The Anchor Milling Company disposed of this historic steamboat to Missouri River interests in the early 1900's.

Tuscumbia has been no stranger to flooding during its 177 years... As you see in the pictures below, devastation visited this small river town on numerous occasions. Yet, the town has always rose from such inundated disasters and proceeded to proudly rebuild each and every time.

The flooding of Tuscumbia...

1895 1910

1923 1943

1973